Heavy breathing magnificent foxface

Utkarsh · Oct 5, 2018

Got a magnificent foxface online, was breathing heavily as soon as it came. And it is still breathing heavily in my qt and is staying at the surface. It has been over an hour since it has been put in my qt.
I dont know why it is breathing heavily.
Is it flukes? Or ick? Please help asap.

Crabs McJones · Oct 5, 2018

You could try a freshwater dip and see if any flukes fall off. What are your quarantine tanks parameters? Do you have an ammonia alert badge?

Big G · Oct 5, 2018

Fish is probably suffering from ammonia burns on its gills. Methylene Blue is the standard treatment to help the fish's gills to heal and absorb more oxygen. Do you have a powerhead aimed up at the surface of the tank that's actively rippling the water surface. And another airstone running wouldn't hurt. But the powerhead provides a lot more O2.

vetteguy53081 · Oct 5, 2018

Can be flukes, Low/High salinity and velvet. I agree on Freshwater dip which they respond to well and or/ copper bath even in Bucket if no QT tank available.
Lastly, increase oxygen if you can

Utkarsh · Oct 6, 2018

I switched off lights of that room for 12 hours, his colour has improved, breathing is not that intense but still it is faster than any normal fish (might have been stressed due to travel)
But he is not at all eating anything tried feeding
Hikari marine S
Mysis shrimp and brine shrimp (frozen)
Nori sheet
Formula one and two flakes
He is not at all eating anything, and the firefish goby and clownfish who are also with him in 60g qt are eating everything readily(except nori)

I am considering treating tank with prazipro, but i wanted to make sure he is eating, as prazipro suppresses diet.
What should i do?

Utkarsh · Oct 6, 2018

Utkarsh said:
I switched off lights of that room for 12 hours, his colour has improved, breathing is not that intense but still it is faster than any normal fish (might have been stressed due to travel)
But he is not at all eating anything tried feeding
Hikari marine S
Mysis shrimp and brine shrimp (frozen)
Nori sheet
Formula one and two flakes
He is not at all eating anything, and the firefish goby and clownfish who are also with him in 60g qt are eating everything readily(except nori)

I am considering treating tank with prazipro, but i wanted to make sure he is eating, as prazipro suppresses diet.
What should i do?

Plus my foxface is really lethargic, doesnt even swim, stays hovering in one spot.

vetteguy53081 · Oct 6, 2018

Utkarsh said:
Plus my foxface is really lethargic, doesnt even swim, stays hovering in one spot.

Definitely stress and/or protozoan. I would to be safe apply Prazipro but at half dose to allow chance of diet being of interest. What is your water temp and salinity reading? What are you using to measure salinity?

Big G · Oct 6, 2018

Consider treating the Foxface with NFG (nitrofuracine green). The fish may be suffering from a bacterial infection. This drug is a wonder. Many shippers, wholesalers use it to treat fresh incoming fish that may have picked up damage/disease during the handling and shipping process. There is a very bad bacterial infection spread out into the industry these days. It's a little tricky to find. Some LFS have it or buy online. The closest thing to it is Furan2 that is readily available. Beautiful fish.

Utkarsh · Oct 6, 2018

vetteguy53081 said:
Definitely stress and/or protozoan. I would to be safe apply Prazipro but at half dose to allow chance of diet being of interest. What is your water temp and salinity reading? What are you using to measure salinity?

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Salinity 1.020
Using a refractometer

I did a fresh water bath on him. I didnt see any flukes, but breathing is still heavy. It is still lethargic and not eating. No scratching nothing so i dont think there is ick.

vetteguy53081 · Oct 6, 2018

Utkarsh said:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Salinity 1.020
Using a refractometer

I did a fresh water bath on him. I didnt see any flukes, but breathing is still heavy. It is still lethargic and not eating. No scratching nothing so i dont think there is ick.

OUCH - That salinity may be part of issue, Do not rush and shock your tank but raise salinity to at least 1.04 - 1.05. It is TOO Low. Trust me. See if you can have LFS calibrate your refract also and bring them a water sample to verify these readings but salinity is too low for foxface and corals

Feet4Fish · Oct 6, 2018

Salinity is fine for the fish and probably clost to what he was in. If he was shipped to you and spent any time in his shipping water after you opened the bag them ammonia burn is the issue. Meth blue is your best bet. With shipped fish you it took me a while but I figured out that despite the vendors suggestions, drop acclimation is a death sentence and you must just not and dump.

Utkarsh · Oct 6, 2018

soffutt said:
Salinity is fine for the fish and probably clost to what he was in. If he was shipped to you and spent any time in his shipping water after you opened the bag them ammonia burn is the issue. Meth blue is your best bet. With shipped fish you it took me a while but I figured out that despite the vendors suggestions, drop acclimation is a death sentence and you must just not and dump.

I asked my lfs beforehand what was his salinity, and prepared qt accordingly, the fish travelled 12hrs before coming to me. I didnt drip acclimate it. Did temp acclimation for good 45 mins by floating the bag, and dumped the fish in the tank.
Salinity of lfs was 1.020 and so i prepared mine accordingly, cause i lost 6 anthias by drip acclimating them. They fell one by one within 2 days

vetteguy53081 · Oct 6, 2018

7 LFS by me and all maintain at 1.024. Some run low in Hypo-salinity to keep parasites down but NOT a recommended medium. I had Full line pet store for almost 12 years and ran my tanks at 1.023.

Utkarsh said:
I asked my lfs beforehand what was his salinity, and prepared qt accordingly, the fish travelled 12hrs before coming to me. I didnt drip acclimate it. Did temp acclimation for good 45 mins by floating the bag, and dumped the fish in the tank.
Salinity of lfs was 1.020 and so i prepared mine accordingly, cause i lost 6 anthias by drip acclimating them. They fell one by one within 2 days

For future, float as you did, then empty bag and fish into bucket. Add tank water at 8-10 oz, every 15 minutes 5-6 times than net fish scoop fish into the same cup and have him swim into tank and discard bucket of water.

Utkarsh · Oct 7, 2018

The foxface is still not accepting anything, and it is really really emaciated. I think he is having sone kind of bacterial infection.
I have metroplex and kanaplex, but how to treat the fish when it is not at all eating? I fuse metro and kana in fish food. Whats the other way round? To tackle this bacterial infection?
I have already placed a garlic infused nori sheet but the foxface is just ignoring each and everything, i even tried feeding brine shrimp eggs, cyclops and multiple other things, but he is ignoring everything. Please help, how to tackle this bacterial infection

ScooterV · Oct 7, 2018

Just arriving on Friday, I wouldn't worry about not eating in itself yet. Many fish take longer than that, and rabbitfish are high on the anxiety disorder scale. Keeping the lights down will help, as you noticed. Also, in the pics the tank looks bare. Do you have a couple PVC elbows large enough for it to hide in and calm down? Without them, it "may" just be acting like a foxface but picking a random spot with nowhere to hide.

Do you have, or able to get, the methelyne blue mentioned above? A bath in that would help any burned gills. Without a visible cause it's then a guessing game on what to treat for, bacterial or velvet, but at least flukes ruled out. More air stones or power heads. If there's not enough now, it will help, but if adding any meds you'll be better off as well.

Metro and kanaplex can be dosed directly in the water. Get some Furan-2 to add to it.

Utkarsh · Oct 7, 2018

I dont have methylene blue with me, and i have 3 5" pvc pipes in there. But foxface is not hiding. It is big enough for him.
One powerhead, one sponge filter and one hob running at the same time, so aeration imo is appropriate.
But he is breathing violently, very very rapidly. I cant figure out what it is, ick or flukes. Can i dose prazipro and cupramine together, to tackle both the suspected diseases at the same time?

vetteguy53081 · Oct 7, 2018

Utkarsh said:
I dont have methylene blue with me, and i have 3 5" pvc pipes in there. But foxface is not hiding. It is big enough for him.
One powerhead, one sponge filter and one hob running at the same time, so aeration imo is appropriate.
But he is breathing violently, very very rapidly. I cant figure out what it is, ick or flukes. Can i dose prazipro and cupramine together, to tackle both the suspected diseases at the same time?

Do not dose together and the rapid breathing is generally flukes. use the Prazipro which is also reef safe

ScooterV · Oct 7, 2018

vetteguy53081 said:
Do not dose together and the rapid breathing is generally flukes. use the Prazipro which is also reef safe

I don't know if I'd agree on that, but I've also been stuck even when suspecting multiple issues "What to handle first". In this case though, he did do a freshwater dip and saw no flukes. It's not 100% ruled out, but if it was extensive enough to cause those issues he should have seen some. Gill burns, velvet, and bacterial can also cause breathing issues and more likely I'd think (taking a prior FW dip into account). The same FW dip at least "should" have provided a little temporary relief if velvet. I think the trifecta is where I'd likely go first, after yelling loudly here for @Humblefish to make me feel better, lol. Too bad there are SO many issues in the supply chain we have to guess so often and sometimes flip a coin what we treat for

Utkarsh · Oct 7, 2018

The problem is this fish isnt eating, and is really really thin, i can see his bones.
I have dosed prazipro, half a dose. I hope he starts to eat. I just cant understand how to treat this fish, i cant see the poor guy struggling.